Biography of Tali'Zorah from a Paragon, Talimancer
by Machinist's Guardian Archangel
Summary: A biography of Tali'Zorah, from her childhood until Mass Effect 3. The last two paragraphs are "what if" about Shepard and Tali after the war for Earth. They ignore the end on the Citadel, just as a warning. I like my end better.


Full Name: Tali'Zorah vas Normandy nar Rayya

Aliases: none

Age: 25 (27 in the end)

Character History:

Tali'Zorah was born on the Quarian liveship Rayya, a part of the Migrant Fleet, in 2161, as an only child. Her father, Rael'Zorah, was an Admiral to the Fleet and a lead scientist in developing weapons against the geth in an attempt to retake the home-world, Rannoch. Her mother was a common worker in the fleet and was there for her while her father spent most of his days working in the labs and leading the Quarians, until she died around 2179. As a child, Tali became well known and respected for her incredible knack for electronics, ships, and anything mechanical. "Give me some scarp metal, a circuit board, and some element zero, and I'll have it making precision jumps." was a common joke for her, and very apt. She spent most of her childhood trying to earn the respect of her father and was given a few special perks for her being an Admiral's daughter. Even with the pressure, she maintained youth and humor. Finally, in 2183, she left the Fleet to go on her Pilgrimage, her rite of passage into adulthood by bringing a worthwhile gift to the captain of the ship she wishes to join, as all Quarians must.

Early into her Pilgrimage, she heard rumors that the geth, the machine race that exiled the Quarians from their home-world 300 years ago, were exploring in the Traverse. She followed a small group to an uncharted world and ambushed a geth that became separated from the group, killed it, and stole a few files from its memory banks. The files happened to be audio logs of Saren Arterius and Matriarch Benezia discussing their plans after attacking the human colony, Eden Prime. This proved that Saren was a rogue agent of the Spectres and made her a target of the Turian. She came to the Citadel, hoping to contact the Shadow Broker and trade the information for protection. After a failed assassination attempt by Saren's men, she fled to Doctor Michelle in the Wards, where the doctor mended her gunshot wound and put her in contact with Fist, an agent for the Shadow Broker. However, Fist betrayed the Broker and sold her to Saren. The meet with Tali and the Broker was a trap, only Saren's men waiting for her. When she fled, Commander Shepard, the human Alliance Marine investigating Saren, came just in time to save her from the ambush and offer her asylum. Using the evidence, Saren was proved traitor, revoked of Spectre status, and sent on the run. Tali joined Shepard's crew on the Normandy and aided him in his pursuit of Saren and the geth army.

After a few short months, Shepard and his crew tracked down Saren and killed him in the Battle of the Citadel, costing the Council their lives, but saving the galaxy from an imminent invasion of AI dreadnaughts bent on galactic extinction, the Reapers. Shepard also aided Tali in recovering a vast amount of geth data and intelligence, which she used as her gift from her Pilgrimage. After the destruction of the Normandy and death of Shepard, Tali presented her gift to the captain of the Quarian ship Neema and became a full adult in the eyes of her people. She went on to become a top soldier and engineer in the Fleet and was tasked with dangerous black ops missions inside of geth space.

Two years later, Tali and a small crew were tasked with finding and saving a fellow Quarian, Veetor, from a human colony attacked and destroyed by the Collectors, a secret race enslaved by the Reapers. Tali met the born-again Commander Shepard on Freedom's Progress and was aided again in finding Veetor. Though she wished to join her old friend, she had to remain with her people to help with a dangerous secret assignment. The Commander accepted this and let her take Veetor, Tali glad that his new temporary alliance with Cerberus and rebirth had not changed him. She then led a team to Haestrom, a small former Quarian world where the world was going super nova long before it was supposed to. This project was fine for several months, until the geth detected their presence and attacked. The marines bought her time to hide with their lives, leaving her trapped inside a sealed bunker with hundreds of geth trying to get it. Fortunately, Shepard found her location and rushed to her rescue, fighting of a small army on foot with his new team of the master thief, Kasumi Goto, and the now vigilante Garrus Vakarian. Tali and one other member of the marines, Kal'Reager, were saved, and Tali joined Shepard without a second thought.

As Tali learned of Shepard's suicidal plan to go through the Omega-4 Relay and attack the Collector home-world with a crew of assassins, mercenaries, doctors, and even the rare lab-created krogan, she helped Shepard with the new Normandy and his fights to recruit the team. But, her plan came to a stop when she discovered that she had been charged with treason against the Fleet and faced exile by her people. Shepard put everything on hold to help his old friend, abandoning all other objectives to help her with her trial.

On the live ship Rayya, Tali discovered that the research vessel, the Alerai, had been taken over by geth soldiers she had sent dismantled to her father to experiment on. Shepard convinced the other Admirals to stop the trial and allow Shepard, Tali, and Garrus to retake the Alerai, in an effort to find Tali's father, the lead scientist on the ship. After a few hours of fighting, Tali discovered that her father had been trying to develop a virus to hack the geth and return them to Quarian control. Her father was killed, along with all of the staff, when the geth became active and attacked. Tali shut down or killed the remaining geth and tried to convince Shepard not to reveal the evidence. If the Admirals knew, Rael'Zorah would be viewed as the greatest war criminal in history, but if they didn't, Tali faced being exiled by the Fleet for the rest of her life. Luckily, Shepard managed to convince the Admirals that there was not enough evidence to convict either of them. Tali was thanked for helping save the Fleet and cleared of all charges. With a clear head, Tali committed herself to helping Shepard on his mission.

Just before the attack on the Collectors, however, two major events happened that changed her forever. The first was meeting an advanced geth called Legion. This soldier contained the intelligence of over a thousand geth and helped Shepard fight the Collectors. But first, Tali, Shepard, and Legion attacked an isolated geth terminal that worshiped the Reapers, revealing that only a small fraction of the geth followed Saren and the rest had no part in the war. The geth were reprogrammed to go back to the original way of thinking and joined the rest of the geth. Tali almost killed Legion when she discovered it was trying to send data about Quarian weapon testing. Shepard had to talk her down from shooting the geth and the geth from transmitting the data, making both see the flaws in their situation. Tali actually allowed Legion to send some non-classified data, seeing that the geth were merely acting out of self-preservation and meant no harm to the Quarians and actually respected Tali. Her constant hate for the geth she's had all her life began to dissolve and she began to accept them.

The second event was between Shepard and Tali. She had a crush, more or less, on Shepard since they met. She felt drawn to him and cared about him like a close friend. After the trial, she talked with him daily. One day, she went into detail about Quarian lifestyle, how the suits changed their social habits. The most intimate thing a Quarian could do is link their suit environment's to another, and she told Shepard that he was the only one she trusted enough to do that. He said that he appreciated the thought, but then she accidentally revealed that it meant a willingness for intimacy. Shepard accepted her, saying that he cared about her too and wanted to give it a try. They talked again and again, Tali worried that her feelings might harm the mission, but Shepard finally said he'd do whatever he needed to to make them work. She agreed finally. She researched on how they could be together, every kind of immune system booster and relationship advice she could find. Finally, the night before they went through the relay, she came to his cabin. She was still nervous and scared, but he told her that it was what they both wanted. They spent the night together, finally showing her face for the first time.

On the Collector base, after a crash landing, the team needed a tech expert to go in a vent and hack the door so the team could get in. Shepard picked Tali as the hacker, knowing she could get the door open. The rest covered her from the outside, keeping the Collectors back and the tubes open for her to move up. The Collector's discovered the plan and tried to burn her alive, turning the vents into an oven. She kept her cool and fought through the barriers, but screamed in pain when she couldn't continue because the vent was closed. Shepard threw caution to the wind and charged head-long into the fray to open the vents and save her, punching, shooting, and fighting through every soldier the Collectors put in the way. He managed to open the vents in time to save her, but pinned himself against the door in the rush. Tali got into the controls and hacked the doors open, saving both teams from Collector fire. She stuck with Shepard through the rest of the base, giving Garrus and him cover fire from whatever got past the sniper rifles.

When they reached the center of the base, they discovered the Collector's plans: to harvest every human they could and turn them into an actual Reaper. As a team, Shepard, Tali, and Garrus killed all of the Collectors and the Reaper itself when it came down to fight. They rigged the base to overload and destroy itself, despite the Illusive Man's orders to kill the Collectors and save the base itself. When the Reaper fell, it took the platforms they were using with it, nearly taking Tali down too. Shepard dove for her and managed to catch her by her hand before she fell. The platforms crashed into the path to the ship, and they all took off running for safety before the explosion killed them all. Tali and Garrus made the jump into the Normandy without a problem, but Shepard barely caught the edge. Tali pulled him in and they took off just as the base went up in flames.

After the mission, Shepard had to solo into batarian space to save a human scientist with information about the Reapers. The mission went south and the relay inside one of the largest batarian systems had to be destroyed, wiping out the entire system and every soul inside. Shepard barely escaped with his life, but had to face charges back on Earth for the apparent treason. The team had to disband and go to their own planets and homes to prepare for the war. Shepard promised to come back to Tali, but in the end, she had to return to the Migrant Fleet.

Blessed with technological advances by Admiral Xen and the chance to retake the home-world, the Quarians decided to go to war with the geth. Tali was approached with the opportunity of replacing her father as Admiral, and she accepted in hopes she could prevent the war and make things better. But even with anti-war support for Admiral Korris, Tali couldn't talk them out of war. For the next year, the Fleet prepped every ship they had for war. They spent every credit they had on weapons and armor for the ships. Just as the Reapers attacked Earth, the Quarians attacked Rannoch.

Immediately the Quarians realized they had made a mistake. They opened fire on geth platforms and colonies on the way to Rannoch, scaring the geth. The Reapers approached the geth with the opportunity to gain Reaper code upgrades, making the geth true AIs. The geth accepted after a long debate, with survival being the prime motivator. When the Quarians reached Rannoch, the upgraded geth ships tore through the fleet and pinned them down inside the system, retreat no longer an option.

Finally, after curing the genophage back on Tuchanka and aligning the turians and the krogan, Shepard heard about the Quarian's desperate situation. He came to help and met the Admirals, discovering Tali's new status. Shepard volunteered to help the Quarians pull out, and Tali accepted. With Garrus back on the team, they infiltrated a geth dreadnaught that was leading the attack against the Quarians. They worked their way in, killing geth and cracking jokes about old times along the way. Inside, however, they discovered the Reapers were using Legion as a signal booster to control the geth against the Quarians. They saved the old friend and deactivated the ship, giving the fleet time to evacuate. However, Admiral Gerrel of the Heavy Fleet used the advantage of the weakened ship to kill it, sacrificing the chance to get out safely. Tali, Shepard, Legion, and Garrus all managed to escape the ship before it was destroyed.

Back on the Normandy, Shepard agreed to help the Quarians fight off the geth and retake the home-world, hoping that killing all the geth wouldn't be necessary. They had to destroy the server controlling the fighters attacking the fleet, save Admiral Korris from his crash on Rannoch, and destroy the main Reaper base that controlled the geth. If all of that could be accomplished, the geth would be free, the Quarians would have minimal casualties, and Rannoch could be taken back.

The first thing Shepard did, however, was invite Tali back up to his cabin. She confided in him her fears about the war and losing her people. But she admitted that she cared about Shepard and still wanted to be with him. He told her he still wanted her. They finally agreed to be together again, even with the war and everything else they had to deal with.

On Rannoch, Legion proved invaluable to the team and the Quarians. It helped Tali and Shepard hack the fighter server, allowing them to shut down all the geth attacking the fleets. It also saved multiple Primes and recruited them to the cause. Then, it helped them locate Korris and evacuate him. With his help, the fleet would stay in one piece and had a chance of reclaiming Rannoch. When the Reaper base was located, Legion, Shepard, Tali, and Garrus all attacked the base while the Fleet hit the geth ships. They located the source of the Reaper signal and ordered an orbital strike on it from the Normandy and hit it with Thaxis missiles. But the source turned out to be an actual Reaper and gave chase after them. Legion secured a ship for evacuation and cleared the team just as the Fleet unloaded on it. The Reaper was still standing after the barrage and had to be manually targeted again with every gun in the Fleet. As Shepard left the vehicle to do the targeting, Tali confided that she loved Shepard, fearing they wouldn't make it out alive. Shepard told her he loved her too.

Shepard targeted the Reaper for the Fleet to hit, nearly losing his life but killing the Reaper. With it dead, the geth were left scrambled and disorganized. The Admirals ordered to wipe out the rest of the geth, but Legion started to load the Reaper code to them. The code would make the geth just as powerful as before, but free. And if they were being attacked when it happened, the Quarians would be wiped out. Tali and Shepard managed to talk the Fleet down just in time, letting both the geth and the Quarians survive and join the war effort. The geth allowed the Quarians to live on Rannoch and actually aided them in surviving and building. With Rannoch now back in Quarian hands, Tali set her plans to live on Rannoch, but after she helped Shepard retake Earth.

Tali joined Shepard through the rest of his fight against the Reapers, helping him with both her shotgun and her presence. They agreed that they loved each other and were going to live together after it all was over. She kept him company and helped him with the nightmares that plagued him since the beginning of the war. When the time came to retake Earth, she was with him up until the Citadel attack, where he left her to keep her safe.

After the Reapers were killed by the Crucible and Earth was safe, Tali stayed with Shepard as he recovered from his injuries. It took several months for Shepard to fully become healed, but they stayed together the entire time and helped with the rebuildings of Rannoch, Thessia, Earth, and Palaven. When Shepard was one hundred percent, they got married right in the spot Tali vowed to build a house. They've lived in it since, alternating between helping the war repairs and enjoying retirement. Shepard now works as an adviser for military and some politics, while Tali keeps her engineering skills working developing tech.

Character Personality:

Tali is more cheery than most Quarians, though she still feels sorrow and anger just like anyone else. She's always the first one to crack a needed joke in a tense situation and will usually respond to stress with a little humor. She's not afraid to speak her mind about anything, and will jump down anyone's throat that does something she doesn't like or insults her. She's very Quarian about putting others before herself to a fault, willing to sacrifice everything she ever wanted to help someone. She was a little naïve when she first joined Shepard, but she grew up with years, responsibility, and experience. She kept most of her idealism, but some of her enthusiasm died away. She doesn't believe she'll change the world, but she tries to make it better.

She's pretty calm about anything that doesn't involve the Fleet or the geth. She's a great friend and more loyal than a German Shepherd. If anyone comes between herself and her friends, she'll put the shotgun barrel right in its face. She'll never leave a friend behind and will work to help them. She's sarcastic more often than not and rarely shows any fear or wavering. She never compromises on what she believes in. Tali believes in always doing the right thing, and tries to follow that.

Character Description:

Tali is a Quarian: a slightly shorter humanoid race. Most don't see what a Quarian looks like, due to their environment suits. Quarians have almost no immune system, thanks to the sterile environment of the Fleet. They are typically slightly shorter and thinner than humans, which is obvious in the thin arms. Their lower legs bow back significantly, forming almost a half-circle leading to large, two-toed feet. Their hands are slender with two thick fingers and a thumb almost like talons.

Her suit is slightly different from most Quarians. Hers has a mix of patterned cloth and armor plating, which is common. However, hers is slightly more artistic. Her hood has a purple back color with swirls and floral patterns across it. Cloth also runs down her sides and across the bottom of her stomach, overlapping from either side just above her waist. The armor plating is skin-tight, with slight hexagonal ridges and textures to it. Her mask is purple glass, almost impossible to see through, while at the bottom, two metal planes come out around a small circle that lights up whenever she speaks, resembling almost a praying mantis from the side.

Underneath the suit, she looks very human. Two eyes, eye lids, tear ducts, lips, nose: everything you'd expect. Her skin is almost pale white, making the obvious cybernetics obvious as silver lines that branch out across her neck and down some of the limbs. Her eyes are unique, the sclera being a translucent red and her iris and pupils simply white. Her hair is long and raven black. She is almost model thin in build, with obvious and attractive hips and breasts, but still built well enough to show her use of her shotgun. She prefers to paint her nails a bright pink, and is attractive by any standards.

Powers/Skills:

Tali is an excellent engineer and marksman with her shotgun. She prefers to soften targets with her tech attacks, then come in close and finish them of with the shotgun. Outside of combat, she knows more about ships and computers than anyone, allowing her to upgrade the ship and hack computers. She's not a team leader, but she'll charge into a fight and works well solo or in a small team.


End file.
